Brotherly Love

In 2 Samuel 1, David declares his sorrow for Jonathan, who had fallen in battle. In verse 26 he exclaims, “You were very dear to me!” [Norw.] When Jonathan died, David was not gloating—far from it!

This love that David had for Jonathan is a very good example of brotherly love. In Psalm 133, David describes brotherly love in this way: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! . . . For there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forevermore.” This is also our experience, more and more, after receiving love in our hearts.

Jesus says in Matt. 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Jesus Himself is in the midst of brotherly love. The condition is that we gather in His name—not in our own name, not with our own strong opinions, not with sympathy and antipathy, not with demands on others. No—in the name of Jesus. He is the one who humbled Himself. He is the one who loved first. He is the one who died for us while we were still sinners. When we gather in this name and follow His example, we experience what Jesus said. Then He is in our midst, and that is where the Lord has commanded the blessing!

Peter writes in 1 Pet. 1:22, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.” In our dealings with one another, we encounter our own nature, our hardness, our sympathy and antipathy, etc. Perhaps we also experience things from others that are not so good, and that is often when our soul awakens: “That was unrighteous!” Instead of becoming evil ourselves or allowing our brotherly love to grow cold, we must do as Peter exhorts us: purify our souls so that our brotherly love becomes sincere, and so we can love fervently from the heart—just as David loved Jonathan! In brotherly love, we show true care toward one another, and we also experience the same from others. Care softens hearts, which in turn increases brotherly love. I may think that someone has weaknesses, but am I able to help and strengthen them where they are weak? This is precisely how it must be, and how we must put brotherly love into practice.

It is good to test yourself thoroughly: How is my love toward my brothers and sisters that I am together with? Can I truly say about every single person, “You are very dear to me,” especially to those in the place where I live and where I regularly am in contact with these different ones? Or are there any exceptions? Are there some people that I would rather avoid? Someone that I might secretly rejoice a bit over if things aren’t going so well for them? Someone I can’t pray for? If this is the case, then I’m not really in brotherly love as I should be. Then I need to repent and start cleansing myself.

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Praise be to God that we have undeservedly been allowed to enter such glorious fellowship in brotherly love. Here we learn to be tenderhearted toward one another. We are able to pray for one another, and we also sense that we are being prayed for. In this brotherly love, we are supplied with energy and strength to persevere in our battles. We love, and we know that we are loved in return. It really is good and pleasant.

In brotherly love, the Lord has commanded the blessing forever!